Permanent Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,575 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TRU. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in TransUnion by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,643 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,010,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 1,428.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 226,771 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $23,743,000 after buying an additional 211,934 shares in the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in TransUnion during the third quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in TransUnion during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $128,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in TransUnion by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 44,370 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,646,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other TransUnion news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $93,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. This represents a 1.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

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TransUnion Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE TRU traded up $1.07 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $83.37. 2,687,493 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,542,940. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $93.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.19. TransUnion has a 12-month low of $66.07 and a 12-month high of $113.17. The firm has a market cap of $16.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.10, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.115 dividend. This is a boost from TransUnion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. TransUnion's payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on TRU. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransUnion currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.64.

TransUnion Profile

TransUnion operates as a global consumer credit reporting agency that provides risk and information solutions. The company operates through U.S. Markets, International, and Consumer Interactive segments. The U.S. Markets segment provides consumer reports, actionable insights, and analytic services to businesses, which uses its services to acquire new customers; assess consumer ability to pay for services; identify cross-selling opportunities; measure and manage debt portfolio risk; collect debt; verify consumer identities; and mitigate fraud risk.